Creattura Celebrates Publication of Peer-Reviewed Study Introducing New Method for Detecting Surface Water in Agriculture

Tokyo, Japan – August 15, 2025 – Creattura, a Japan-based climate technology company with major initiatives in rice methane reduction, announces a peer-reviewed study in the journal Remote Sensing advancing the science of irrigation monitoring and emissions estimation.

“VAWI_log: A Log-Transformed LSWI–EVI Index for Improved Surface Water Mapping in Agricultural Environments”
(Remote Sens., 2025, 17, 2771; DOI: 10.3390/rs17162771)

The study introduces VAWI_log, an innovative index designed to overcome one of the most critical challenges in monitoring rice irrigation: detecting surface water beneath dense vegetation. Unlike conventional indices and global datasets that rely solely on remote sensing, VAWI_log was developed and validated using on-the-ground water-level observations. This integration of in-situ measurements enabled the index to achieve superior performance, particularly in reliably detecting water under dense vegetation cover—a limitation where conventional approaches often fail.

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The research was authored by Alexis Declaro, a PhD candidate at the Institute of Science Tokyo and current intern at Creattura; Zachary Brown, CTO of Creattura; and Professor Shinjiro Kanae, an academic advisor at the Institute of Science Tokyo.

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Research Independence
Creattura is committed to building its technology on a foundation of independent, rigorous science, working closely with academia to ensure solutions are grounded in credible research. Creattura provided field access and water-level measurement data, however the company had no role in the design, analysis, or interpretation of the research findings. All authors have declared no conflicts of interest, and the article underwent full peer review under Remote Sensing standards.

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Industry-Academia Collaboration for Climate Impact
“Tackling the climate crisis starts with advancing the science behind it,” said Alexis Declaro. “This work extends the power of remote sensing to deliver more accurate, frequent detection of agricultural flooding, enabling better estimation of greenhouse gas emissions.”  

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Improving Digital MRV for Rice AWD
Insights from this research strengthen LynxAWD, Creattura’s AI-powered digital MRV (Measurement, Reporting, and Verification) platform for Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) rice methane abatement projects. By incorporating improved water detection, LynxAWD can more accurately monitor flooding and drainage events, enabling more rigorous verification of climate impact.

LynxAWD combines satellite data, AI, and IoT into a highly-scalable solution for monitoring methane reduction. The platform is commercially available to carbon project developers implementing AWD rice projects under JCM and other recognized methodologies.

The full article is available here.

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About Creattura
Headquartered in Tokyo, Creattura develops climate technology and carbon projects that deliver scalable, science-based solutions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The company’s mission is to: “To preserve and regenerate humanity's natural heritage for future generations”.

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